A new bird for a new year! Hope 2024 has been kind so far, friends ❤

[Images: Illustrated purple martin with violets, followed by public domain reference photos.]

That's a wrap on Folktale Week 2023!! Many thanks to the organizers and participants for your work in making this possible (and already looking forward to next year!)

[Image: All seven Folktale Week images collected in a single panel.

Text: Thank you!!

Folktale Week]

Folktale Week Day 7: Found

[Image: Returned to full seal form, the selkie leaps away happily into the waves. On shore, the stranger waves goodbye; his footprints fade into the form of a wolf.

Text: Then, no matter how far the waves take you, my dear,

you'll always be found.]

Folktale Week Day 6: Illusion

[Image: The stranger--a bearded man with shaggy gray hair--embraces the smiling selkie girl with a kiss on the forehead.

Text: Wrap yourself so tightly

that illusion melts into sinew and skin.]

Folktale Week Day 5: Underground

[Image: Bright-eyed, the selkie girl sits in a cave at a fireside eating a bowl of steaming soup; a golden-eyed wolf stands guard at the entrance of the cave.

Text: Sink down,

deep underground,

into the root cellar of your soul.]

Folktale Week Day 4: Sleep

[Image: A strongly-built stranger with a blue shirt and fluffy gray cloak, face obscured, cradles the unconscious selkie girl gently in his arms.

Text: Sleep first.

Recover your strength.]

Folktale Week Day 3: Sea

[Image: A red-haired selkie girl lies washed up on the ocean shore amidst seaweed and shells, wrapped in the seal's white hooded coat.

Text: (The sea is vast, my dear

and not always kind.)]

Folktale Week Day 2: Ink

[Image: Amid heavy rain and crash waves, a towering wave looms over the frightened baby seal.

Text: You may meet a storm that stains the seas and swells

the deep blue-black of unforgiving ink.]

Folktale Week Day 1: Lost

[Image: A baby seal floats on the ocean surface, nervously watching a gathering thunderstorm in the distance.

Text: One day, my dear,

you may find yourself

lost.]

I'm joining Folktale Week 2023!! Super excited for this new round of my favorite annual challenge. (Given the prompts, trying my hand at a selkie tale for the first time!)

November 13-19

Prompts: Lost, Ink, Sea, Sleep, Underground, Illusion, Found

[Image: A beach at ocean's edge with seashells and seaweed. Wolf paw prints prowl on the upper left, and a seal's tale slips into the waves on the lower right.

Text: I'm joining Folktale Week!

Lost, Ink, Sea, Sleep, Underground, Illusion, Found]

*******

#FolktaleWeek2023 is hosted by a group of extraordinary artists from around the world. Many thanks to:

@tanja_stephani

@anazenun

@kalyquarles

@sirjanakaurart

@debrastyer

@louve.draws

@kellyannedalton

@matejalukezic

@jennifermpotter

@deborah.j.stein

@beingmargauxkent

#folktaleweek#folktaleweek2023

Hello friends! It's been a while since posting in this season of life, but I had a blast this past weekend taking part in Madeleine Jubilee Saito's "Create a Poetry Comic!" workshop.

We made two-panel comics pulling together recently-encountered images, text, and feelings from our everyday experiences.

Thank you, Madeleine, for guiding us with such gentle, thoughtful, and generative expertise!

[Image 1: Revised poetry comic, blue background with gold border. Two panels: a grinning jack-o'-lantern with moon and autumn leaves, then a golden-eyed silhouette with furry ears and curving tail. Below, paw prints join the leaves leading off-panel. Text: Spooky season again... and the monster waits for me in the mirror. Breaking through...

Image 2: Initial rough version of the same comic, shared live during the poetry comics workshop.]

Working on a 24-page issue through the Storytelling Collective's six-week "Write Your First Comic" workshop! (Not my first comic, but my longest graphic fantasy piece in development so far--the pace is definitely expanding my comfort zone!)

[Image 1: Promotional Banner--"I'm creating a comic with the Storytelling Collective." #wyfc 

Image 2: Project files for in-progress pages of a vector art fantasy bird comic.]

Excited to have a new piece ("Ashen Cadence") out today in the Storytelling Collective's "Collective Panels, Volume II" in honor of Free Comic Book Day! 

It was a lot of fun to develop this 1-page, 5-panel piece from the ground up through the 8-day StoCo Comics Challenge in April. 

The full collection is available for "pay what you want" through the weekend via DriveThru Comics: 

https://www.drivethrucomics.com/product/436566/Collective-Panels--Volume-II?affiliate_id=3026970&fbclid=IwAR0JhLxzgScW8kyykmaHLNcAEfjJ_Dt1bONpsPtJROPFDOBttSsyE6SIAvc

[Image 1: Full comic: Ashen Cadence, reflecting on a phoenix's life cycle transition. 

Image 2: Brainstorming map, exploring ideas around stories, adventure, coming home, grief, and shadows, culminating in an idea around a phoenix in a temple featuring ashes and rebirth.

Image 3: Script for 5-panel comic.

Image 4: Black-and-white vector thumbnails. 

Image 5: Photo backgrounds under black-and-white vector thumbnails. 

Image 6: Full-color comic.

Image 7: Photo credits for public-domain photo backgrounds from Flickr and free for commercial use font license.]

Birds and botanicals: Hyacinth macaw in a hanging basket!

This bird is tenured!!!! (New headshot by Jared Jones!)

And that's a wrap on "Breakthrough"--thank you so much for following along with the mini-adventures of Tlixi and baby bird! Posting photo credits for all photos included, with gratitude for the creators' work and their willingness to share it via an open license. [Image 1: Cover; pair of goggles and the story title "Breakthrough" by Erin Kathleen Bahl (@lybcomic)--photo credits. Image 2: Photo credits: avidd. "Sagrada Familia." Flickr, 7 January 2013. Public domain. dlovins99. "Sagrada_Familia_with_cranes." Flickr, 18 May 2018.  Public domain. karmatosed. "Sagrada Familia." Flickr, 16 November 2016. Public domain. Jim Griffin. "Working With Stained Glass." Flickr, 19 March 2022. Public domain.   Marcu loachim. "clouds." Flickr, 21 July 2018. Public domain. Marcu loachim. "Galvanized sheet." Flickr, 28 July 2017. Public domain. Rubén Cañizares Jiménez. "Sagrada Familia." Flickr, 4 November 2015. Public domain. SDASM Archives. "123112.TUR003. Goggles [...]." Flickr, 11 March 2020. No known copyright restrictions. Tuohirurlla. "File:Iso linnunpontto.jpg." Wikimedia Commons, 5 June 2005. Public domain. USDA Forest Service, Region 6, State and Private Forestry, Forest Health Protection. "1974. Baby birds in a nest." Flickr, 1974. Public domain. ]

"Breakthrough" Part 5: Shatterproof. [Image 1: Cover; two pairs of goggles and the story title "Breakthrough" by Erin Kathleen Bahl (@lybcomic). Image 2: Daytime; a towering cathedral construction site surrounded by flocks of birds. Text (off-panel speaker): Thank you for gracing us with your visit today, Your Majesty. Image 3: The foreman (pileated woodpecker), neck craned nervously, addresses the king (golden eagle) at the construction site. Text (foreman): We hope these enchantments we've presented today have found Your Highness's favor- Image 4: Tlixi bursts onto the scene in flight, baby strapped to her back. Text (Tlixi): Wait, please! Text: (Foreman): Tlixi! Where were you-- Image 5: A closeup; Tlixi's tiny claw presses an intricate stained glass pane into the king's massive talons. Text (Tlixi): Enchanted stained glass, Your Majesty. Shatterproof. Your palace's windows will be unbreakable. Image 6: The king looks down at the stained glass pane. Text (king): Have you been able to test it? Image: Arrows point to the baby bird on Tlixi's back. Text (Tlixi): Extensively, sir. Text (king): So I see. Excellent work. I look forward to future collaborations. Image 7: Popping out over Tlixi's shoulder, the baby bird flips down a pair of tiny goggles.] **END--thank you so much for following along with the mini-adventures of Tlixi and baby bird! I'll post credits for all public domain background photos in a wrap-up post next week.**